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Boomerang at 25 Isn’t Just a ’90s Eddie Murphy Flick; It’s a World We Want to Live In
It is a Friday night on the set of 1992’s romantic comedy Boomerang. In between shooting takes for the now classic Thanksgiving-dinner scene, Eddie Murphy and cast trade jokes about what would happen if Mr. and Mrs. Jackson (John Witherspoon and BeBe Drake) had sex in the bathroom of his character Marcus’s luxurious New York…
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From Cookie’s Closet to Yours: It Could Be Fast, Affordable and Fabulous
After seeing the success of the first season of Empire, I knew that Cookie Lyon, the show’s stylish star character, would inspire a fashion line. Cookie (played by Taraji P. Henson) set Twitter ablaze each week as viewers commented on everything from her quick, no-nonsense wit to her animal-print dresses, three-finger rings and fur coats.…
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Was It Tanzania, Not Britain, Where the Miniskirt Was Invented?
In the 1960s, young women of all races around the world made the miniskirt a racy, fashion statement. The garment grew in popularity in the 1970s. The mainstream fashion industry claimed the miniskirt as a British original popularized by Mary Quant, owner of the chic London boutique Bazaar. Yet, when I was doing research on…
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Selma Costumes Reveal Class and Consciousness of the Movement
The costumes worn in the critically acclaimed film Selma tell about an important yet understudied history of the race, class and generational tensions of the Deep South. Few realize how critical dress was in establishing and maintaining the social order of the South. The Jim Crow system was built upon a hierarchy that placed wealthy…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
